Turkey to assess Finland, Sweden compliance on NATO accession
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Turkey announces that a new "permanent committee" plans to meet with Finnish and Swedish authorities in August.
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Turkey to assess Finland, and Sweden's compliance with NATO accession Turkey.
Turkey announced on Thursday that a new "permanent committee" will meet with Finnish and Swedish officials in August to review whether the two countries are meeting Ankara's conditions for ratifying their NATO membership aspirations.
After the war in Ukraine broke out, Finland and Sweden abandoned their legacy of military non-alignment and announced preparations to join NATO.
The accession must be ratified by all 30 NATO members. Under a three-way agreement inked last month, NATO member Turkey has demanded the extradition of scores of alleged "terrorists" from both countries.
Turkey's way or no way
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to "halt" the extradition process if Sweden and Finland do not extradite the accused. He accuses them of harboring outlawed Kurdish militants.
"If these countries are not implementing the points included in the memorandum that we signed, we will not ratify the accession protocol," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reaffirmed in a televised interview.
Read next: NATO launches ratification process for Sweden, Finland members
He stated that the committee would convene in August but gave no further specifics. Turkey's Parliament has adjourned for the summer, making it impossible to take a ratification vote until October.
Moreover, some Turkish officials have expressed concern that the procedure could take till next year.
'No talks if demands not met'
Earlier this month, Ankara threatened to stall the process of Sweden and Finland joining NATO. The Turkish President stressed, "I repeat once again that if our demands are not met the process will be slowed down. We see that especially Sweden does not show the proper reaction."
Previously, in May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed determination to block Sweden and Finland's application to enter NATO, calling Sweden a "complete terror haven."
On June 15, Turkey rejected NATO's offer to hold trilateral talks with Finland and Sweden. On July 10, Sweden made a list of 10 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members to extradite to Turkey following the signature of a memorandum in Madrid, Turkish broadcaster TRT Haber reported on Sunday.
